Management in Action-Social,

Ethical and environmental Issues

Presented By-:
Ridhi Gupta
MBA CI&SM
Semester4
Consultancy Failure Story
• Name of Case- Boston Firm admits ‘Massive Failure’ in plan to aid
South Africa Tax Agency.
• Company Name- South Africa Tax Agency.
• Consultant Name- Bain and Company.
• Year- 2018.
• Fees- USD11 Million (2015)
• Objective- Consultancy service to review the SARS operating model.
• Reasons for failure-:
The head claimed that he was not aware of what was going beneath the surface and the
company lacked transparency.
Bain’s contracted work on the operating model covered only one aspect, organisational
structure.
Did not push SARS to acknowledge and address the risk raised by Bain.
Bain did not recognise the possibility that they may have been used to further a political or
personal agenda.
Bain Claimed that 33 interviews had been completed in six days but only had records of 12
of those interviews held for 15mins each.
Diagnostic report on the agency was shoddy. It did not meet with senior officials involved in
the tax agency’s modernization.
It was ignorant of basic facts about the institution and it did not even ask why the agency
needed restructuring in the first place.
 Learnings-:
• The company should’ve focused on what the client exactly wants and why do they want
and what do they expect out of the report.
• The company should’ve pushed SARS to acknowledge the risks that might present
themselves in some cases.
• The company should’ve provided clear transparent report to SARS for the work done (3
projects undertaken) Just to increase business they bid 50% less than they usually do
and did not give appropriate time
• They should’ve educated themselves of the basic facts about the company and the
surroundings they are operating in.
• They could have been more aware of agendas that could have diverged from the
mandate they were given and should’ve listened better.
• The success of an operating model for an organisation is a function of defining and
implementing all elements of the model correctly: leadership, organisation structure,
accountabilities and decision processes, governance forums, core values/ways of
working, capabilities, business processes, and IT systems
 Consultancy success story
• Name of Case- PWC finds more ways to bring independent films to
light
• Company Name- Sundance film festival.
• Consultant Name- PWC
• Year- 2018
• Objective- Sundance Institute wanted to leverage its growth to find
more ways to make an impact and support visual storytelling.
• Reason for success-:
PWC helped Sundance achieve clarity, confidence and alignment. Clarity about how to
fulfill their mission today and tomorrow, confidence derived from deliberate, data-based
decisions, and alignment throughout the organization around a common approach to
fulfill the Sundance mission.
 They started by framing the problem to help Sundance Institute make data-based
strategic decisions.
Built a view of the ecosystem to help them get an understanding of what’s happening
today and find the most impactful areas of focus for tomorrow.
Sundance was compared to competitors, festival-goers were surveyed and PWC created a
film impact score to measure buzz and reach.
With in-depth, data-driven insights, the executive team was effectively able to
communicate its strategic vision to key stakeholders and make adjustments to better
position themselves to be the Festival of the Future.
• Learnings-:
 Have knowledge about the competitor, customer preferences and market
changes for today and for future.
Technology was leveraged.
The internal team of Sundance was aligned with the strategy formed by PWC
which motivated them to develop strategies that are innovative and exciting.
The strategy helped the company to come in align with its mission and vision and
maintain the organisational culture of the company.
Framing the problem is the key to success, understanding what the company
does and what is the impact of their work is important to assess.